2015 Volume 46 Issue 2 Pages 101-107
On Honshu Island, Japan, the Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala generally breeds in open forests and forest edges at an elevation of 700 m – 1,600 m. However, in recent years, this bunting species has started to breed in coastal Japanese Black Pine Pinus thunbergii forest in lowland areas, such as Niigata Prefecture. Previous studies have shown that this bunting usually nests at ground level or in low shrub vegetation. In order to elucidate the tendency of habitat selection of this species in Niigata area, we compared the distribution density of territorial males between two study sites, the well-managed forest with a poor shrub layer vs the poorly-managed one with a dense shrub layer. The present data in the breeding season clearly demonstrated that this species occurred at higher density in the poorly-managed forest with a dense shrub layer habitat.
